Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have been posted overseas to Sana'a, Yemen - one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. While there, they will be working with a small team to track down one of the masterminds behind the USS Cole bombing: a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as The Panther. Ruthless and elusive, he's wanted for multiple terrorist acts and murders - and the U.S. government is determined to bring him down, no matter the cost.

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Publisher's Summary

Anti-Terrorist Task Force agent John Corey and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, have been posted overseas to Sana'a, Yemen - one of the most dangerous places in the Middle East. While there, they will be working with a small team to track down one of the masterminds behind the USS Cole bombing: a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative known as The Panther. Ruthless and elusive, he's wanted for multiple terrorist acts and murders - and the U.S. government is determined to bring him down, no matter the cost. As latecomers to a deadly game, John and Kate don't know the rules, the players, or the score. What they do know is that there is more to their assignment than meets the eye - and that the hunters are about to become the hunted.

Filled with breathtaking plot turns and told in John Corey's inimitable voice, The Panther (the sixth book in the series) is a brilliant depiction of one of the most treacherous countries in the world and raises disturbing questions about whether we can ever know who our enemies - or our allies - really are.

Every one of Nelson DeMille's books are like a delicious treat to be treasured and savored. Meticulously researched, cleverly written--a master story teller to whom every single written word is meaningful. No wasted words or characters. Two of his wittiest and most clever characters, John Corey and Paul Brenner unite in this on-topic masterpiece that is too close to current events to ever be made into a movie. It is a shame, as all his books should be movies. Just as John Travolta brought wise-cracking Paul Brenner to life in the movie rendition of The General's Daughter; a movie with him and the Corey character would be great. But relish DeMille's latest masterpiece; he has the recipe that so many authors have tried for and failed: humor, well-researched and intricate plot, no gratuitous violence or sex, and not a single wasted word. All wonderful. By the way, do listen to the epilogue. It is worthwhile hearing the author's own personage as it blends with that of his characters.

I admit this book could have been cut down, probably by about 100 pages. DeMille shovels a gigantic amount of background information about Yemen, the Middle East over all, drones, and U.S. defense efforts against terrorism. This information is necessary, but I get the sense editing was tossed aside. Still, I enjoyed this John Corey entry despite it being the weakest in the series. Corey is still a wonderful character, filled with with and sarcasm, which is how I like my heroes. I really do like Kate, John Corey's wife, but she is reduced to acting like his mother this time around. Which is to bad, because Kate is as strong a character as Corey. You get patriotism, really evil bad guys, betrayal and loyalty. Those who give this story 1 star do it a disservice because it is still a fun time.

I've loved every one of Nelson DeMille's books -- read them all, listened to all but a few. But this one is the best. It's funny, it's fascinating, it's informative -- one of those books it's just impossible to stop listening to.

Aside from the fact that anything with John Corey is great, this book is -- as are several of DeMille's books, actually -- very timely. He set this book in Yemen, with John and his wife, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, traveling to Yemen as "bait" to smoke out -- and kill, if possible -- a deadly Al qaeda terrorist known as "The Panther." But what I found absolutely fascinating was DeMille's description of Yemen, mostly because it sounds a good deal like Libya -- two different countries, obviously, yet they share many similarities in terms of impoverished, hopeless population, dangerous, barren landscape, with radicalized terror groups mostly running things. All I could think of, listening, is that this must have been what life was like for the late and still-mourned US Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, who, together with four other US officers, was killed several months ago in a situation not terribly different from what DeMille gets his protagonist into, in this book. Right -- it's not exactly the same, of course. But life for US diplomats, life for US citizens who travel to these dangerous positions in radicalized Muslim countries, must have been very much like what DeMille describes here. It's absolutely fascinating.

Not that it's just educational -- Corey is at his witty best, with lots of laugh out loud one liners, performed to perfection by Scott Brick. Example? At several points in the book, things look grim indeed for the embattled group of Americans. "What's your evacuation plan?" one asks, wondering what the last-ditch plans are for getting out of the country, if need be. "Breaststroke," Corey says. Ah, right! That'll work.

It's a great book, a brilliant audiobook -- not to be missed, and one I will enjoy again and again.

What made the experience of listening to The Panther the most enjoyable?

The return of John and Kate, Scott brings John Corey to life with his humor and wise quips. There is a distinct humor that comes through Nelson's words and Scott's delivery.

Who was your favorite character and why?

You know it is John! To me Kate is the next because she seems to be the calm and thinking part of the team. It was important for her to act just the way she did in their culture knowing to wrap herself but not being happy with it. Perfect portrayal of a western woman in eastern culture.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As I have said before, Scott Brick is the voice of John Corey, you can hear the humor that Nelson is trying to convey with Corey. I like the fact that you always hear about what John thinks about men near his wife. Scott makes it funny when he talks about Brenner dancing with Kate.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes you could .... well I could not stop listening to the story. I listen while I work my swing shift, and I was listening to the story for two more hours after midnight..... I was not ready to go to bed till I had to leave the edge of my seat.

Any additional comments?

Thank you Nelson DeMille, and thank you Scott Brick to me you will be the voice of Corey, no matter what!

I can tell you that I will be listening to this book again gladly in about three months, its that good where I could not get enough of this good stuff.

The John Corey series by Nelson DeMille has been a dependable listen. While The Panther is classic DeMille/Corey and the story is very good, this one lacks anything new and different to really engage the listener (at least to those familiar with other Corey tales). In this plot, John and Kate venture to Yemen to hunt down the latest feline terrorist that is believed to have planned the Cole bombing. As usual, John suspects there is more than meets the eye (or at least more than what he has been told). As is typical, John follows his own hunches and salvages what would have been a huge US disaster while cracking Corey jokes along the way.

So what's the problem? Basically, the story is too formulaic for those familiar with the series. In spite of all the past investigative success in the past, John is still regarded as a simpleton by his boss, there's a new CIA agent that appears to be just a resurrected Ted Nash, another cocky feline themed terrorist, all around general ineptitude by everyone around John, and a familiar denouement. At the same time, the story drags for the initial two thirds with little actions and too much emphasis of repeating polysyllabic terrorist names. There's a bit of time disequilibrium with a close relationship to the Cole bombing that is now over a decade old, but appears more proximal.

Don't misinterpret these comments; the story is still good, just not fresh anymore. John needs a change of pace, another friendly nemesis rather than the CIA, a different boss who recognizes that he can't fool this guy, and perhaps different enemies, like North Koreans.

Scott Brick as usual is superb with range and tone that sets the mood and makes the listening easy and enjoyable.

A plot. Any character development. About 1/2 the length. A few paragraphs of something other than constant middle-east bashing. About 75% less smart-alec dialog.

I didn't even make it 1/2 way through this book (and I remember enjoying previous books in the series).

Oh and did I mention the constant gratuitous blood and gore?

What do you think your next listen will be?

Reading Creole Belle. What a contrast.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

It's ok but it tends to amplify the bad writing. For example the smart-alec dialog contains a lot of the response "Right" which the guy says in a exaggerated smart-alec way which gets tiresome really quickly.

What character would you cut from The Panther?

Clearly these characters have all run their course. John Corey is tiresome. All the stereo-typed middle-east characters are shallow. Really I can't think of anything worth saving.

I saw an ad for the new DeMille novel and rushed to download it. It is broken down into three sections and the entire first part could be summarized, "John and Kate are sent to Yemen to kill the Panther." Very thin plot line, and even an excellent narrator could not save this disappointing book.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Panther to be better than the print version?

Scott Brick could read anything to me and he got me through this book. I admit that if I had read this book, it would have been hard to finish.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I enjoyed the reintroduction of Paul Brenner from a previous book, The General's Daughter. I did not enjoy the long descriptions of every place they went or details of of character relationships that held no relavence to the plot. I felt lost in character development. Because I have read all of the John Corey books, I knew John and Kate and their ability to work together and their deep feelings and respect for each other. If this had been my first Corey book, I would not know anything about their relationship or much about Kate. The CIA relationship to the Corey's was explained but without enough detail.Who is the Panther? We knew the Lion intimately. In this book, the Panther was a secondary character. This author is one of my very favorites and each one of his books have kept me on the edge of my seat. I have looked forward to this book all year. As I listened, I kept wondering when the story would start. If this is your first DeMille book, please read others.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Everything. He is a master story teller.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Catching a Panther for Dummies.

Any additional comments?

The book is much too long to get the plot across. I might enjoy the abridged version better.

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